TENNESSEE -- University of Tennessee officials filed documents in federal court in September in an attempt to avoid the release of records the university claims are private and would cost thousands of dollars to assemble.
The ESPN television network subpoenaed the records, claiming they are required for the network's defense against a defamation suit filed by Tennessee football player Reggie Ridley and Victoria Gray, a former athletics department tutor.
Ridley and Gray filed their separate federal suits, each asking $2 million in damages, last year after the network alleged massive academic fraud by the school